The Structure of Light

This exhibition investigated phenomena of light in art, the development of which can be traced back to the 17th century. What do Vermeer’s or Rembrandt’s paintings of light and Descartes’s or Huygens’s natural philosophical concepts of light have in common with the structure of light in contemporary art, film and photography? The exhibition applied a diachronic view of the interaction between art and philosophy, religion and science, and combined important works of art history with theoretical sketches and optical instruments. Contemporary positions highlighted the conditions of visibility and the use of light in the portrayal of spaces. The exhibition was accompanied by an international conference for art historians, philosophers, science historians and literary scholars.

Curators of the Exhibition in Kassel: Carolin Bohlmann, Justus Lange and Philipp Weiss (Forschungsgruppe Historische Lichtgefüge), Justus Lange and Timo Trümper (Museumslandschaft Hessen Kassel).
Conference preparation: Fokko Jan Dijksterhuis, Thomas Fink, Thomas Leinkauf
Coordinator: Philipp Weiss

Artists 17th / 18th century: Job Adriaensz Berckheyde, Daniel de Blieck, Robert Campin (Kopie), Michelangelo Caravaggio, Giuseppe Cesari, Pieter Claesz, Cornelis Cornelisz, Benjamin Gerritsz Cuyp, Albrecht Dürer, Gerbrand van den Eeckhout, Caspar David Friedrich, Hendrick Goudt, Jacob Philipp Hackert, Johann Oswald Harms, Gerard van Honthorst, Pieter de Hooch, Christiaan Huygens, Jan Lievens, Harmen Loeding, Pieter Neefs d. Ä., Aert van der Neer, Jacob Ochtervelt, Egbert van der Poel, Pieter Rahmstorpff, Harmensz Rembrandt, Johann Heinrich Roos, Peter Paul Rubens, Jacob Solomonsz Ruysdael, Jan Saenredam, Pieter Jansz Saenredam, Godfried Schalcken, Evert Marseus van Schrieck, Matthias Stom, Gerard Ter Borch, Simon Peter Tilmann, Lippo Vanni, Willem van de Velde d. J., Jan Vermeer, Januarius Zick.
Contemporary Artists: Thomas Bachler, Thomas Graichen, Yasuhiro Sakamoto, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Thomas Weinberger, Michael Wesely.

Venues and schedule:
Gemäldegalerie, Berlin (light course), 8 Feb. – 31 Apr. 2011
International Conference, Kunstgewerbemuseum (Kulturforum), Berlin, 31 Mar. - 2 Apr. 2011
Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Schloss Wilhelmshöhe, Kassel, 18 Nov. 2011 - 26 Feb. 2012